ROME: Pope Francis suffered an isolated coughing fit on Friday that resulted in him inhaling vomit and requiring non-invasive mechanical ventilation, the Vatican said in relaying an alarming setback in his two-week long battle against double pneumonia.

Pope Francis suffered an isolated coughing fit on Friday that resulted in him inhaling vomit and requiring non-invasive mechanical ventilation, the Vatican said. Francis, who has spent the past two weeks at Rome's Gemelli hospital,

The development marked a setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis.